Convergence of Tool-Specific Configuration Cultures

Determine whether configuration practices across agentic AI coding tools—specifically Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Codex, and Gemini—will converge as their feature sets overlap or whether distinct, tool-specific configuration cultures will persist over time in open-source software repositories.

Background

The study finds systematic differences in how repositories configure various agentic AI coding tools: Claude Code repositories exhibit the broadest configuration footprint, Cursor projects emphasize rule-based mechanisms, and Copilot and Codex repositories rarely extend beyond Context Files. These patterns likely reflect both tool capabilities and community norms.

Given these diverging practices and the rapid evolution of tools, the authors explicitly note uncertainty about whether these ecosystem-specific configurations will eventually harmonize or remain distinct as feature sets increasingly overlap.